(S H O P, C O O K, E A T; R E P E A T)

IMBB 15: a clean, sparkling bowl of raspberries in lemonade

Ever eager to wed high and low, I was planning to make elegant Jello shots with champagne and strawberries for Is My Blog Burning 15 (my first!). When it came down to it, though, I didn't feel like spending $10 for a bottle of bad champagne and so bought sparkling lemonade instead (a good thing, too, since I ended up eating this for breakfast). Tiny, gemlike raspberries seemed likelier candidates than humongous strawberries for suspension in a clear bowl. Though they ended up surprising me by bobbing to the top, overall I was pleased with the way this looked and tasted. The gelatin was not too sweet and very refreshing; you could still feel the starry fizz, which is exactly what I was hoping for. The raspberries still tasted fantastic (I had been gobbling them while dissolving the gelatin), which was a relief, since it would have been a shame to waste all those expensive fresh berries. Next time I will make this in a shallower glass dish, or one big shallow dish to be cut into cubes, each cube containing one raspberry and looking like an ice cube! That would be fun to float in a girly cocktail.

1. Sprinkle 3.5 tsp. unflavored gelatin over 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Let sit for five minutes, then turn burner on and dissolve gelatin over low heat, stirring constantly. I added and dissolved a spoonful of honey and wish I had added a tiny bit more, maybe 2 tbs.

2. When gelatin has dissolved, turn off heat and stir in 1 bottle (750 ml.) sparkling lemonade. Lemonade will foam up and look like a crazy science experiment!

3. When it subsides, pour into containers (you will have about 5 cups of liquid). Stir in 2 cups of raspberries (or however many you want to eat), cover, and refrigerate until set.

UPDATE: I love the tiny version at Food Chronicles--and the pictures she links to of Blair Fukumura's desserts. Now I am dying to make little Damien Hirst Jello shots!